meeting the condition

"Hey... I know that Miss Jane lets us do what we want, but I think it's better if we don't kill him. It might implicate us later," Ben chimed in as they stood above the limp body on the ground.

"Yeah, I think Ben is right. We wouldn't want the academy on our necks after this. It's best we avoid trouble," Jacob supported.

Frank had an unwilling look on his face as he listened to the two.

Letting the bastard off wasn't simply going to cut it... No, he wanted him dead, and he didn't want to encounter any other like him... ever!

"What if he meets the conditions for his useless talent? There's no way he will give us a free pass," Frank stated, shooting the two deadly glares, still reluctant to let Kieran off.

"That's right. But even then, what, even an SSS-rank talent holder? They'd be smarter than to run into the Nelkon family to kill one of their heirs," Jacob said, still unconvinced.

"You seem to underestimate the power of SSS-ranked talent holders. Why do you think there are only five that have been noted in history? Even my dad has yet to see the founder to this day," Frank threw a deadly gaze at Jacob, who seemed to be questioning his knowledge.

"Then what do we do? Killing him might implicate us all."

The group went silent, pondering what they'd do to the said person.

"I have an idea!" Ben declared, his eyes sparkling as he thought again about his brilliant idea before telling it to the group.

"What is it?" Frank asked, growing slightly impatient.

"We can throw him into one of the academy's training realm gates!"

Hearing him, Frank's face turned from a deep frown into a smug grin.

"That's a smart idea. There's no way this useless monkey would be able to escape from a realm gate. And there's no way the school would link it back to us!"

The idea was perfect and flawless!

"Indeed! Nothing could possibly go wrong," Jacob finalized, and they turned their deadly gazes to the figure, wicked smiles climbing up to their ears.

---

~Splrr!

Water splashed!

Kieran's eyes felt foggy as they came to life.

'Where am I?' he thought to himself, confused, but he couldn't think for much longer as the pain from all the injuries he had received came back just as quickly.

He winced as he felt the searing pain tear through his entire body.

As he looked up, his face quickly contorted into one of anger as he saw the figures in front of him.

"You think this will end here? I'll get you back for this!" Kieran yelled, his voice cracked from the burns around his neck.

"Oh, me?" Frank said, placing his hands on his chest dramatically.

"You should be less worried about me and more about yourself," Frank said with a grin as he walked forward.

Kieran tried to move, hoping he could plant a punch on the idiot's face. Only then did he realize that his hands were strapped behind the wooden chair.

"Don't bother trying to move. You'll have a lot of space to move later... probably when you're dead," Frank said, his eyes flashing with malice as he pulled out a dagger.

"Burning isn't satisfying enough. I want to hear you scream! Beg! Shout!" he shouted as he stabbed the dagger right into Kieran's thigh.

Kieran couldn't hold it back this time. His body was fairly weak already, and he didn't have time to respond.

"Arrgh!" His pained scream tore through his throat.

"Yes! That's it! Scream!" Frank said, laughing maniacally.

Jacob and Ben, who stood far behind, were shocked by Frank's sudden actions. This wasn't part of what they had discussed, and they were caught in a daze by his behavior.

The two even looked at each other, unsure if they should intervene.

Frank seemed to have lost it!

He didn't stab once!

He had stabbed so many times they couldn't keep count!

Kieran's screams could be heard all around the training hall. Thankfully, since the awakening ceremony was over, all the students had dispersed, and the room was completely soundproof!

Kieran sat with blood dripping all over his body, his eyes bloodshot from the constant pain raging through him.

He could no longer process whatever was happening. The pain had overloaded his brain!

But even in that condition, his bloodshot eyes were still locked on the figure who was stabbing him continuously, bathing himself joyfully in his blood.

Kieran gnashed his teeth tightly, holding back his scream. He didn't want to let Frank have the pleasure of seeing him shout one more time.

"I'll kill you!" Kieran roared through the gaps of his teeth, his consciousness slowly fading again from the tremendous pain.

Frank paused upon hearing his words. He felt angry that even in this condition, Kieran still had the guts to make such statements.

"Sure, sure, I'll wait till that day," Frank said with a scoff as he walked behind Kieran.

Placed on the ground was a round metallic device. This was a customized realm gate used by the academy for student practice.

Usually, they did this under a teacher's guidance, as the realm gate could also link to dangerous places.

Pressing the round button on the metallic circular device, a churning sound was heard as it came to life.

A holographic form of a blue gate appeared right above the circular device before slowly solidifying.

Frank pushed the small gates open before walking back in front of Kieran, whose breath was now ragged.

Each breath he drew was laced with pain and effort.

Yet he clung to what little thread of life he had left as he glared at Frank.

"Let's see how you'll kill me." Frank stood with a cold face as he shot a powerful kick to Kieran's chest.

The force of the kick was so powerful that it carried both him and the chair he was tied to, flying straight into the mouth of the realm gate.

Kieran sank inside the spiraling purple space of the gate, his eyes widening from the force of the kick.

That kick drew the line between his life and death as he fell into the portal gate.

At long last, it seemed as though his heart stopped beating.

[Ding! Condition has been met.]

[System awakening...]

---